Iron Baby
by Methodically-Unorthodox
Summary: When Ironhide is caught in the middle of an odd explosion and is changed into a sparkling the Autobots are forced to protect the little one from both the Decepticons and a mysterious enemy. Slash Trans c Has
1. A light

Ironhide sighed and whipped around to find that, yet again the twins weren't working

Ironhide sighed and whipped around to find that, yet again the twins weren't working.

"You Slaggers Get Back To Work!" He roared and whipped an asteroid rock at Sunstreaker's head.

"Hey! Watch it!" The yellow Lamborghini snapped, anything but impressed to have a rock hurled at his cranium.

"I have had it up til' here with the two of ya' slacking off!" Ironhide snapped, "Now, get back to work!"

"Ok, ok… Geez, no need to blow a gasket." Sideswipe muttered as he turned and picked up his duties where he had left off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

-Several earth week's before-

"Optimus!" Perceptor called to his commander as Prime entered his laboratory.

"Why have you called me down, Perceptor? Over the comm. link it sounded urgent." Prime said, skipping over formalities.

"It is urgent!" Perceptor insisted as he pulled up a video feed on his computer screen. "This is why I have called you here." He added, pointing at a dot and some figures on the screen.

"What exactly am I looking at Perceptor?" Prime inquired.

"It's a asteroid… And it's on a head first course for earth." The scientist informed his leader with quite a bit of dread in his voice.

Optimus stiffened as he realized what the figures meant. There was an asteroid, the size of the earths moon, heading straight for the earth.

"This is bad." The Autobot leader pointedly pointed out the obvious. "We need a plan of action."

"I am way ahead of you Optimus. I have constructed this plan." Perceptor informed his leader, handing him a data pad containing his strategy. "We need to drill a hole in the asteroid and plant a explosive device in the asteroids centre…"

"I am sorry Perceptor, but if I may ask…" Optimus cut in, "How will that help? Won't it just split the asteroid into two, and in the process, create a greater problem?" Prime seemed generally sceptical as he looked through the plans.

"Well if you allow me to finish… The explosive device is being made by Wheeljack as we speak. It will, in theory, consist of two main features: one, it will release a sudden wave of energy, like that of a seismic wave, which will loosen the rock surface and two, it will deliver a nuclear blast that will wipe out all traces of the meteor… Or at less blow it up enough that it will no longer be a threat." Preceptor explained in his usual fashion, a well-educated rant.

"I am guessing that it will be a rather large bomb then?" Optimus sighed.

"No, actually it will be rather small." The microscope informed his leader.

"Come again…" Optimus coughed on the words.

"By merging Autobot technology with earth methods, we will be able to create a maximum capacity device without having it be… gargantuan." Preceptor pointed at the data pad in Optimuses hand. "Its all in the plans."

"Very well. Perceptor I am putting you in charge of this mission. Gather a team and deploy immediately. Meanwhile, I will inform the earths governments of this new threat."

"Understood Sir."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

_-Presently-_

Ironhide frowned. Why did he have to be here, on this Primus forsaken rock, in the middle of space, digging holes? In truth he knew very well why he was there, it was just that he really didn't want to be on this mission. He had been hand picked by Perceptor because he possessed certain skills and attributes that greatly help in the process of the mission -- A.K.A, he was strong and was able to move a lot of rocks at once and could operate the drill easily. But the way Perceptor had described it sounded so much better then: 'you are here for manual labour.'

Ironhide would have voiced his complaints if it weren't for the fact that everyone on this mission was in the same boat as he was. Not only that, but even Perceptor and Wheeljack, the leaders of the mission, were breaking their backs digging holes and operating the drill along with everyone else. Ironhide sighed and turned back to do his work. A moment later a warning sign flashed across his vision and he jumped back and snarled, "Decepticon energy signs approaching!"

Every Autobots head within earshot of Ironhide snapped up and soon similar warnings were bestowing themselves on each and every Autobot on the huge rock. Mechs began to scramble into defensive positions and prepare for their enemies arrival. It was an organized chaos, Decepticons intervention in the mission had been highly suspected and every mech had been briefed on defensive measures if the threat proved to be authentic. It seemed that it had unfolded to be so. Soon figures far off in the distance appeared, and before details could be made out, guns began to fire.

Ironhide dove behind a lager rock outcrop for cover, and landed inelegantly on top of Ratchet. Ratchet yelped and flailed his arms in surprise.

"Ratch'! It just me, Ironhide!"

"Get off!" Ratchet snapped.

"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" Ironhide snarled back. Looking around Ironhide found that Ratchet and himself were not the only ones taking cover behind the rocks; the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, were there as well, which wasn't a surprise considering how they had been working relatively close to each other.

"Nice pile drive Ironhide. You really got Ratchet off guard" Sideswipes voice was mockingly smug. The red warrior scooted over to Ironhide and Ratchet.

"Shove it up your tail pipe Sideswipe, now is not the time for a quarrel." Ratchet growled.

Ironhide stood up abruptly, shot off a few rounds, and then fell back onto his bottom.

"How's it looking out there?" Sunstreaker asked unenthusiastically of Ironhide, preparing his own weapon for battle.

"The 'Cons have made it onto the asteroid and are advancing fast. They landed right in the middle of the drill sight." Ironhide replied with an annoyed growl.

"No slaggin' way!" Sideswipe shouted over the sound of the loud battle raging in front of them. "That's just great!"

"What now?" Sunstreaker shouted and leaned in closer to hear his commander's reply.

"Ok, listen. You and Sides are goin' to take Ratchet to the med tents that are set up on the other side of the drill. Make sure he gets there; they are probably in desperate need for a medic. Then, after you are done that, come back here and defend the west side." Ironhide hollered the instructions, trying to be heard over the random explosions that were going off overhead.

"What if the med tents have already fallen?" Ratchet asked.

"Then Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will escort you back here, try and grab whatever you can, if you can, from the drill sight and tents before returning." Ironhide turned his gaze back to the twins. "Now listen you two, don't go doing anything stupid. Go around, not straight through the battle, and try to stay under covering at all times. And if somethin' seems wrong, get back here."

"What about you?" Ratchet leaned in and placed his hand on Ironhide's.

"I will stay and provide you back up and then move to provide backup to Preceptor and Wheeljack over by the supply tents." Ironhide shouted into Ratchets adios, which, if it weren't for the deafening explosions going off in every direction, would have hurt Ratchets adio receptors.

"How do you know they are over by the supply tents?" Ratchet shouted back.

"I saw them heading over there when the first warnings went off, and even if they are not there, the supply tents need to be secured and protected." Ironhide replied hastily, leaning into the rock behind him when a bomb went off just beside their position.

"Are we all ready?" Sunstreaker yelled and all the mechs present nodded. "Good then lets get going!" With that Ratchet and the twins sprang up and began to make they're way to the drill sight. Ironhide shot up from his seat and begun to unload shots into the clearing.

From in front of him, Ratchet looked back briefly, worry written on his face as he gazed at Ironhide. Ironhide caught his stare and nodded, as if to say '_I am going to be alright_.' Ratchet smiled and turned back to the twins. Once Ratchet and the twins were out of sight Ironhide leaped out from behind the rock outcrop and began to make his way to the supply tents.

Ironhide was running for all he was worth when all the sudden he was sent flying into the ground. He turned to the source of his decent to the ground. Thundercracker stood just a few feet behind his, gun barrel smoking. A sharp pain tore its way through Ironhide's circuitry. 'Hide placed a hand on his leg over the rather lager bolthole Thundercracker had bequeathed upon it.

Thundercracker walked over to Ironhide slowly weapon drawn. Ironhide hissed in pain and tried to raise his gun.

"I wouldn't be doing that." Thundercracker threatened with a wave of his gun, as if to showcase the weapon.

As his assailant approached, Ironhide's mind panicked, tearing through options for his next move. Although his swivet didn't show on his face, Ironhide was mentally flipping out. The fact was the gunshot to the leg had made moving, let alone running, near impossible, and his weapon was near out of energy. The only thing he could think to do was to throw out all notions of self-preservation and fire at Thundercracker no matter what the consequence would be.

Thundercracker was now standing right over Ironhide, who had come to the conclusion that going down fighting until the end was better then dying at the mercy of a Decepticon. With that decision Ironhide threw up his weapon and fired. Thundercracker mimicked the action, bringing his own weapon up and fired. The whole world, from Ironhide's perspective, slowed to a near stop. He saw his bullet slowly make its way to its target and then slowly drive itself into Thundercracker's shoulder. He saw the larger blue warrior knocked backwards by the force of the projectile and land gracelessly on the ground. And finally Ironhide saw Thundercracker's own shot speeding slowly towards him.

At that moment Ironhide's gaze was pulled away from his impending doom and up towards to sky. He was not sure why he decided to gaze at the stars in the last moments of his life, maybe it was because he found the vastness of space comforting, or maybe it was because he wanted to go out on a dramatic note, whatever it was Ironhide's last sight was a blinding white light descending from the heavens above and sweeping over his battered form with a soothing warmth.

Before he offlined he muttered, "Here I come Primus…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ratchet and the twins had run more then half way to the drill sight when Hoist had abruptly pulled them to cover behind a large bolder.

"You can't go that way." He panted exhaustedly.

"Why not?" Sideswipe barked. "We need to get Ratchet to the med tents!"

"The med tents are no more. They were one of the first things to go, along with the north end of the drill sight and the communication post." Hoist hissed. Ratchet took note of the wound on Hoists side and pulled a medical kit from subspace to tend to his wounds. Hoist pushed Ratchet roughly away and snarled, "Save your medical tools for those who need them!"

Ratchet snarled a retort of, "You need them you slagger!"

"No! I don't! I will live! There are others that need it more." Hoist hissed in response.

"Like who?!" Ratchet roared.

"There is a large group of bots stationed at the supply tents. It's our last strong hold. I was radioed by Perceptor, all personal are to move to the supply tents at once and provide back up." Hoist told his company.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker exchanged exasperated glances. "Well, I guess we'll do what Ironhide instructed…" Sideswipe muttered.

Hoist nodded. "I'll lead the way. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, you two take up the rear."

With that the four filed out from behind the blocker and made their way to the supply tents. It wasn't that far of a distance, but the four were having an astonishingly hard time crossing the distance. Every few minutes they had to dive for cover, or fight off a group of enemies. The former was the case at the moment as Sideswipe had been ambushed by Skywarp and was trying to beat the seeker off, who was clinging to his back, trying to throw the red warrior to the ground.

"AAAHHHH! GET OFF YOU FRAGGER!!" Sideswipe bellowed, flailing his arms angrily. Sunstreaker threw himself into the two and all three went down. Sunny then shot into a sitting position and caught the seeker by the throat. He brought his arm up and clenched his fist. As Sunstreaker prepared to pummel the seeker into a pile of scrap, Skywarp managed to get his feet between himself and Sunstreaker and kicked the yellow twin off balance. Taking the opportunity he had gained, Skywarp warped out of sight.

Sideswipe rolled over on his side and caught sight of where Ratchet had fallen. Skywarp had taken a cheap shot at the medic just before leaping onto Sides back. The ammunition had just missed the medic, clipping the side of his arm. Ratchet stood up slowly, with help from Hoist and frowned, "We should keep moving."

Just before the four began tracking back to the supply tents, something to the off right caught Sideswipes optics. As he realized what it was he smiled and yelled, "Hey, its Ironhide!!"

All heads turned in the direction Sideswipe had indicated. Sure enough there was Ironhide, running as if his life depended on it. (Which in the current circumstances it did.) The four mech began to beckon the red warrior, shouting as loud as they could manage. But Ironhide never hindered in his sprint, the red warrior was too far away and that added to the fact that there were loud explosions going off and gunfire, it was no wonder Ironhide couldn't hear them. The group began to move towards Ironhide's position but then stopped short when something else came into view.

Ratchet screamed in horror as he watched Thundercracker darted out from behind a boulder and fired a shot into Ironhide's leg. He watched in horror as the seeker slowly made his way over to his fallen comrade. And he witnessed his comrade make a final stand, bringing his weapon up and firing off a single shot, which caught the seeker in the shoulder and threw him to the ground. But before the blue seeker went down he managed to get in his own shot. Ratchet watched as the blue jet's shot buried itself in between Ironhide's neck and shoulder. Ratchet would have looked away, but he noticed something. Right before Thundercracker's bolt impacted into Ironhide, Ironhide moved his head upwards to the heavens. Ratchet wasn't the only one to notice that fact and as one Ratchet, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hoists heads all moved, as if by their own accord, to gaze up towards the stars.

A blinding light plummet from the sky and struck the asteroids surface in the exact spot where Ironhide had gone down. All watched on as the ray widened, and in a brilliant spectacle, the surface of the asteroid in contact with the light fulminated. Large pieces of rock flew into the air and slowly were disintegrated by the light. If one had paid close attention to the outer most edge of the explosion, they would had noticed the body of Thundercracker flying through the air and they would have also noticed a black shape materialize in front of the blue seeker, wrap its arms around the unconscious jet and vanish into thin air once again, taking Thundercracker with it. But none of the four Autobots noticed. Their optics were glued to the spot Ironhide had been. They just stood motionless, mouths gapping open, dumfounded by the scene before them.

Ratchet, once again, let out a shriek of horror and began to run towards the light. A black hand caught his wrist and jerked him backwards, stopping his advancement. Ratchet wiped around to face the owner of the hand, face-radiating anger. But Sideswipe wasn't looking at him, his optics were fixated on the light, with his mouth hanging open as he shook his head slowly from side to side. Ratchet turned back to stare at the horrifically beautiful scene in front of him. The light that shone from the sky was… Heavenly, it had several different shades of white and it sparkled all the colours of the spectrum.

And just as the light had appeared, it vanished once again; receding back into the heavens from once it came, with no warning.

All stood still.

All gaped at the spot of the incident.

All were dazed with astonishment… And terror.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Megatron had to force himself to stop gawking at the skies, tearing his optics from the heavens to rest instead upon his second and third in command. Starscream and Soundwave stood frozen, optics opened as wide as they could pry them, gazing bewilderedly into the sky. All had seen the light… And now, all were terrified. Even Starscream, the usually quick-to-get-in-his-two-cents loud mouth was speechless.

"Starscream report status." Megatron growled in his usual manner.

Contradictory to his usual manner, Starscream answered calmly, still stunned from the events he had just witnessed. "We have conquered the drill sight, the medical tents, and communication post, but the explosive device we came for was in none of those locations. The only place left it could be is in the supply tents, but the Autobots have made that their stronghold… What was that light?"

"I don't know… But this is apparent; we are out numbered and have little chance of succeeding in our mission. Furthermore, whatever that light was, it couldn't have been a good thing. It could have been the explosive device we came for, or it could have been a new Autobot weapon, either way, we no longer have any business here. I am issuing a retreat. Decepticons, fallback!" The dictator roared as he took to the skies, his minions following quickly behind.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ratchet regained enough composure to snarl "Sideswipe if you know what's good for you, you will let go of me…"

"Why, so you can run off to look for a ghost?" The red twin shot back insensitively. "You saw what happened… Its over, he's gone… Lets just go…" The red warriors voice faded until it was no more than a soft whisper.

Ratchet stepped back and cried, "No! He might still be alive! He might need help! I need to go help him!!"

"Stop Ratchet!" Sideswipe cried in return.

"_BOTH OF YOU STOP_!" Hoists voice was like a wave crashing into the medic and the red twin, knocking them both back a few steps. "Look, Ratchet might be right, Ironhide might have miraculously survived…" He said as he pushed Sideswipe away from Ratchet. "So listen, this is how it's going to be, you and Sunny are going to go on ahead and inform Preceptor what has happened and tell him to arrange immediate emergency transportation to earth well Ratchet and I go and look for Ironhide, savvy?"

Sideswipe didn't know what to say, he was totally against what Hoist had just ordered, but still he was speechless. Finally he managed to form a decent retort and growled, "Who made you the leader?"

"Well someone has to be, and none of you are volunteering for the role." Hoist shot back mockingly.

Sideswipe opened his mouth to rebuttal but Sunstreaker beat him to the punch. "Fine, we will go."

Over the bond he shared with Sides, Sunstreaker snapped :Don't you even think about arguing. Look at Ratchet; he's two second away from having a mental meltdown, do him a favour and just do what your told, for once.:

At that moment Sideswipe could have killed his brother, but the truth was Ratchet was distressed and that he was going to have to obey his orders if he liked it or not. But he didn't like it, and he wasn't going to take it. He opened his mouth to try and reason his point across further when Ratchets scanners picked up a faint distress signal.

Ratchet jumped with joy, "I am picking up Ironhide's distress signal, he's alive!! _He's Alive_!!"

Sideswipe growled with frustration, now there was no point in arguing. "Lets go Sunny!" With that he turned and stormed off. Sunstreaker did the equivalent of a human rolling their eyes and followed after his twin.

Ratchet and Hoist exchanged odd looks before heading off themselves. Their track to the incident sight was relatively short and soon Ratchet and Hoist started to look for the Weapons specialist. Ratchet was trying to pinpoint Ironhide's signal, well Hoist watched his back, in case there were still Decepticons in the vicinity. Ratchets scanners finally locked on to Ironhide's signal and the medic made a dash in the direction the signal was emitting from, leaving Hoist behind. The medic stopped in front of a large cluster of rocks, muffled whimpers could be heard from underneath the rock and his spark jumped painfully in its casing.

"Hide!" He cried as he fell upon his hands and knees and began digging. With each rock he became more and more desperate, repeating Ironhide's name over and over.

"I am coming 'Hide… I am coming, 'Hide… I am coming, 'Hide… I am coming, 'Hide!"

The medic spotted what seem to be a small opening in the rocks, it appeared there was a sort of small rock shelter in the rocks and what's more, through the cracks in the rocks, Ratchet could see red armour.

"Ironhide!" He sang the name as the last few rocks were removed and the weapons specialist was revealed. Large blue optics met Ratchets and the medic gasped.

"Ironhide… you… your…" The medic trailed off in disbelief. He reached for his friend but abruptly stopped when the other whimpered and drew back, clutching to his wounds.

"Come on Ironhide, I will make you feel all better." Ratchet cooed softly, "Come on buddy."

Ironhide hesitated for a moment, but then opened his arms, allowing the medic to pick him up.

Hoist walked up behind Ratchet, rubbing his head in annoyance. "Hey Ratchet, warn a mech before you just up and run off, ok?"

Ratchet didn't move from his crouching position, not even his head came up to acknowledge the complaint. Hoist walked close to the medic, stopping short at his back.

"Ratchet, is everything all right? Did you find Ironhide?"

"Ya… ya, I did find him…sort of…" The med-bots voice quivered.

"What are yo--" Hoists question was cut off as the medic turned around and revealed what was in his arms and Hoists mouth fell open in disbelief.

"He… He's…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Preceptor had gotten the transportation and med tools ready just as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had informed him to. He had even had all of the requested materials set up at the edge of the camp, so that the moment Ratchet and Hoist arrived with Ironhide, they could depart. Most of the Autobots had been sent either back to work, or to the medic tents. Which left only Perceptor, Skyfire, the transportation, and the twins, who had refused to go back to work until they saw Ironhides safe return.

"Here they come!" Sideswipe leaped up from his sitting position upon spotting the figures approaching in the distance.

Hoist was in front and his bulky Body was blocking most of Ratchets white body from sight. Hoist went on slightly ahead and stopped a good distance from the group of mechs awaiting their return.

"We found Ironhide." He announced.

"Ya, so were is the big baby?" Sideswipe chuckled, trying to conceal his desperation and failing miserably.

"Here." Ratchet called from behind Hoist. Hoist stepped out of the way as Ratchet walked up to the group, holding Ironhide in his arms. Upon seeing Ironhide, all jaws dropped.

"Is that…?" Perceptor breathed astonished.

"Yes." Ratchet replied calmly.

"Are… you sure…?" Sunstreaker stepped forwards, shock written on his face.

"Yes I am sure, my scanners don't lie…" The medic whispered softly.

"He…" Sideswipe brought up a shaky hand and pointed at Ironhide. "He… He's a…"

The medic took it upon himself to finish the red twins sentence.

"A sparkling."

--  
A.N-- Ok, lets see… How to explain this…this fiction was inspired by a drawing I did of Ironhide as a baby. (Or I guess sparkling would be the appropriate term) Immediately after drawing the picture plot bunnies begun to slap me in the face with ideas, and so this was born. I hope you enjoy the totally random crap that makes up my thought process.

Future Pairings- This fic will eventually be a Ratchet/Ironhide love story… (Sort of)

Ummm… I wanna keep the other pairings a surprise, not that they are anything unexpected or special, but it will be more fun for my to… That and I might promise a pair and never get around to them… '

But there will be more pairings than just Ratchet/Ironhide. Nods

Side note- I know the general plans for blowing up the asteroid weren't that scientifically sound, but I am not a scientist so you cant expect much. Further more this was mostly just what ever come to mind (off the top of my head sort of deal.) and it should be noted that this fic is totally spontaneous and if it has plot gapes or mistakes I am sorry.


	2. A babysitter

Optimus was, at that moment, very thankful for the fact that he had his facemask, for if it were not for his face guard his ja

Optimus was, at that moment, very thankful for the fact that he had his facemask, for if it were not for his face guard his jaw would surely have hit the floor the moment he walked into the med bay and saw Ironhide.

"He…He's a…" Optimus stumbled over his words in utter shock and astonishment.

"A sparkling, yes." Ratchet nodded, as he rocked the sleeping form of Ironhide in his arms.

"How?"

"We don't know sir. Preceptor is working on it, but so far we have nothing."

"Hummm… Are there any leads?" The Autobot leader shoock off the initial shock and dove straight into the matter.

"Well…No, just a mysterious light that caused an explosion. Ironhide was caught in the middle." Ratchet said, tilting his head upwards in thought.

"A mysterious light you say?" Otpimus's words ripped the medic out of his recollections.

"Yes, it descended from the sky and caused a rather spectacular explosion."

"A Decepticon weapon maybe?" Prime suggested.

"No, I don't think so. The Decepticons ran off after the lights appearance. If it were one of their weapons surly they would have taken advantage of the disorder the light caused."

Silence fell over the two Autobots as they pondered what the light could have been. The silence stretched for a few minutes, until quite suddenly there was a loud yawn and happy clicks started coming from Ratchet's arms. Ratchet and Optimus both jumped at the sudden noise and their optics moved to settle on Ironhide. Ironhide looked up at them, happily clicking.

"Hello Ironhide." Optimus said softly, rubbing a finger on Ironhides head. At the contact Ironhide bounced up and down in the medic's arms and giggled loudly. For a moment Optimus was taken back by the red bots actions, the Ironhide he knew rarely laughed, let alone giggle.

Prime smiled at the youth, "He sure is a happy one, isn't he."

"Yes…" Ratchet sighed, looking down at the sparkling in his arms.

"By his behavior, I take it he cant remember anything?"

"No… He was extensively damaged in the explosion. Same of his CUP circuits were fried. I think that might have caused it. But I am not very confident in my own theory."

"Oh, and why is that?" Optimus blinked curiously at the med-bot.

"Because he didn't just shrink, he actually reverted back to a sparkling state. All his mature systems are now sparkling systems. He's a sparkling to the core."

"So he can't transform?" Prime queried.

"No." The medic verified.

"Hummm…. We will need to make arrangements for him, he can not be left alone." Optimus regarded the sparkling in Ratchets arms with a sort of sad smile, "Have you made any arrangements Ratchet?"

"No… But I do have a few plans for Ironhides care…" The medic voiced softly, bouncing Ironhide in his arms gently.

"Such as?"

"Well, before the war a group of femmes would take care of sparklings at designated centers such as the care-centers. What a growing sparkling needs is a caring femme to look after it and make sure that its growth is healthy… The only problem with our situation is—"

"There are no femmes on earth at the moment." Prime cut in.

"Yes. The next best thing is a bonded pair." The medic said as he shifted his weight, awaiting Primes obvious reaction to his subtle 'suggestion'.

"You can't mean…" Prime's optic shot up to meet Ratchets.

"They are the only bonded pair in the Ark." The reminder was laced with amusement.

"They will never say yes… The moment we ask… Can't you take care of Ironhide? Medics are usually programmed with the knowledge to care for a sparkling…" Prime stumbled helplessly over his thoughts, trying in vain to think of a strong argument.

"Yes, as a medic I do have knowledge in this area, but the fact is I can't be looking after a sparkling and running a med bay. Not to mention the fact that one of the two we are talking about is on medical leave for an injury. At least he will have time to look after a sparkling. And only one of them would hate the idea; the other might be up for it. If worst comes to past you could always just pull rank and order them to do it." The medic argued with an annoyed tone.

"I would not feel comfortable ordering something like this onto them." Optimus answered potently.

"Well, you will have to suck it up." Ratchet riposted with quite a bit of force in his tone. The room fell silent yet again, as the two mature mechs glared at each other in a staring contest of wills.

Finally Optimus broke the silence with a loud drawn out sigh. "Fine, but you will be the one to inform them of their new orders."

"Good. I will call them here now." Ratchet slapped on a victorious grin and opened his comm link.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Absolutely not!" Prowl sneered, clenching his fist in frustration. "Just having him here, like this, is such a security risk… When Red Alert catches wind of this he is going to blow a fuse! Not to mention neither Jazz nor myself have any experience when it comes to caring for a sparkling!"

"Well that's not totally true…" Jazz grinned at his bondmate, "I have taken care of sparklings before."

"Jazz you not helping!" Prowl hissed underneath his breath. Jazz just grinned and caught his bondmate in a forced embrace.

"Come on Prowler, it'll be fun!" The Porsche exclaimed enthusiastically. "Its not as if I have anything better to do, as long as I am on medical leave I might as well make myself useful." Jazz continued, nuzzling his bondmates neck in a childish fashion.

Ratchet took Jazz's statement as a que to seal the deal. "Good, then its settled. Ironhide will stay with you two until this whole fiasco is straitened out."

With that Ratchet gently shoved Ironhide into Prowls arms and stepped back with a self-satisfied smile. Prowl's features turned with what looked like a mixture of uncertainly and disgust as he observed the sparkling, whose full attention was on him. Ironhide silently watched Prowl, optics running up and down his frame as the youth gave the unfamiliar bot the once-over.

Jazz smirked as an idea popped into his head. He leaned in close to his distracted bondmate and in a quick movement slipped his hand into a seam in Prowls armor and gave a bunch of wires a mild tug. Prowl gasped at the sensation that ran up his back at Jazz's sudden invasion of his wiring and as the emergency lights on his dorsum came to life. Ironhides head snapped up immediately to behold the flashes of red and blue emitting from his holders back. The red sparkling burst out in loud fits of laughter and began to slap Prowls shoulders in amusement. The police car swiftly jerked the sparkling away from his chest, stretching his arms out to distance the sparkling as far away from his being as he could. Jazz join the sparkling in laughter, as did Prime and Ratchet.

"Jazz, you'll pay for that!" Prowl exclaimed, his tone filled with indignation as he switched off his emergency lights.

"You're holding em' wrong!" Jazz snorted in amusement as he plucked the youth out of his lovers grasp. He cradled Ironhide in his arms and began to rock the sparking slowly. Ironhide looked up at him in wonder before letting a weary yawn escape his mouth and falling into recharge.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

All Prime wanted to do after he left the med bay was to go back to his quarters and get a good long recharge. But apparently Perceptor didn't get the memo, for shortly after Prime vacated the med bay and started for his quarters the red and teal scientist paged him to his lab. Prime cussed quietly to the walls of the hallways he traveled down as he headed for the scientist lab. Upon arrival he had to cloak his irritation and fatigue that his trying day had happily supplied him with. Perceptor was in the corner of the larger laboratory, hunched over a computer screen accompanied by Skyfire, who was adding the microscope in his research.

"Perceptor, statis report!" Prime ordered in a noble noise as he strolled over to the microscope.

Both scientists jumped at the sudden appearance of their leader and whirled around to face Prime.

"Oh… P-Prime, you startled me… The statis? Oh right, right…" Perceptor mumbled underneath his breath in a barely audible tone as he collected his thoughts. Once he had conjured up what he wished to say he looked straight into the face of his ranking officer and boldly stated, "I have no idea what did this to Ironhide."

Prime just stared back at him point blankly and sighed, "Care to venture a guess?"

"Magic?" The scientist chuckled.

Prime raised an optic ridge and cocked his head to the side in bemusement. "And that is why you called me here, to tell me you have nothing?"

"No… There is more… That was just the good news." Perceptor deadpanned.

" 'Nothing' was the good news?" Prime asked baffled by what Perceptor was trying to get across.

"Yes." Perceptor nodded, with an even tone.

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"What he means is 'nothing' is good news in comparison with the myriad theory we have collected on Ironhides 'change'." Skyfire cut in calmly.

"But none of the theories pan out… Some aren't even physically possible…" Perceptor grumbled in defeat.

"What do you mean by 'physically possible'?" Prime asked, and then on an after thought added, "In lame mans terms…"

"One of the theories is a time warp, which is exactly what it sounds like, time in a specific spot becomes distorted or warped, ultimately changing the fabric of reality… So to speak…"

"So you think Ironhide got caught in one of these 'time warps'?" Prime mused.

"Yes, that is one theory. But 'time warps' are an unproven theory and even as a theory it's unheard of a phenomena such as a 'time-warp' affecting only a small amount of space. To truly fit in with the theory, it would have had to happen over a large amount of space. Not as channeled and as relatively tame as the light that caused Ironhide's change was."

"So the short of what you are telling me is that there are a hundred different explanations, but none of them fit and you have nothing to go on." Prime frowned.

"Well… Yes and no… Yes, we do have a good number of theories, but its not like we have nothing to go on." Perceptor hummed as he turned and punched in a few commands into the computer. A small screen popped up in the upper left hand corner of the screen, and began to scroll down rows of information. "We do have some evidence to follow. And that is why I called you down here. As you are well aware the asteroids destruction was a success. Now there are only small remnants of the asteroids that are being taking care of by a small cleanup crew of Autobots." Perceptor paused to make sure Prime was still with him and had no questions. Upon seeing that his commander was still following along, Perceptor continued. "We need to get a few samples of the asteroids to test, before all the remnants are disposed of."

"You need clearance to fly to the clean up sight?" Prime stated. "And you have it. But you will need to take a ranking officer along. You may chose whom you feel will serve the most benefit. Report to me before you leave."

"Yes sir!" Both Scientists exclaimed in unison.

With that Prime turned and hightailed it to his quarters to get some needed recharge.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Megatron thundered down the halls leading to the med bay. Not a word passed through his mouth, or passed between him and his present company. Though Soundwave was not one for casual conversation at the best of times, especially so when the Decepticon leader was in as fowl a mood as he was currently in. No, it was wiser on the blue mechs part to just keep his vocalizers clamped shut and keep up with his leaders fast strides the best he could.

The doors to the med bay slammed upon to admit one very peeved Megatron and company, who immediately stormed up to the subject of his anger. Upon seeing the two mechs sitting on a berth at the far end of the med bay, the tyrannical gray mechs ire and infuriation quickly left his features to be replaced with a malevolent grin.

Megatron sauntered over to the berth and glared wickedly at the two, his grin only growing as the two squirmed uncomfortably in his presence.

"Hook, report!" He snarled.

Hook stepped forwards unhurriedly and replied nonchalantly, "It is as it appears sir. The two of them have reverted back to their youth."

Megatron shifted his weight in thought, beholding the two youths in front of him curiously.

"Anything else I should know?" He glanced briefly over to the constructicon.

"Yes, they appear to be suffering from amnesia." Hook supplied.

"Any ideas on what caused this?" Megatron enquired.

"We are working on some theories, but at the moment we do not know the cause of their transformation. All we really know is their change is somehow connected to the strange light that appeared on the asteroid."

"Hummm…" The Decepticon leader hummed in thought. "It is becoming more and more unlikely that the 'light' was an Autobot weapon. They don't have technology that could cause this, nor would they ever think of using tactics such as this. So it can be assumed that this was most likely a natural occurrence." Megatron thought out loud.

"If it were an natural occurrence the likelihood of reversing the affects are very slim." Hook offered.

Megatron for the most part looked as if he were lost in deliberation. Silence fell over the room, as the massive gray mech pondered over his options.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, do you remember anything from the explosion?" Megatron finally broke the silence.

Both seekers looked up questionably, their young optics staring intently at him. They looked as if they were in their early teens, Skywarp a little older then Thundercracker, but both relatively around the same age.

"N-no s-sir…" Thundercracker stammered weakly, obviously afraid of the other.

"And you?" Megatron turned his attention to the black and violent seeker.

Skywarp sneered disrespectably, "Listen buddy, as I told your friend here," he jerked his thumb in the direction of Hook, "I have no slagging idea what happened… I was in Icon one moment and the next, BAM! I am stuck in the middle of a slagging explosion on an asteroid, holding on to this half-dead sucker." Skywarp retracted his hand from Hooks direction and moved it to point at Thundercracker.

"Is there anything else?" Megatron growled dangerously, trying to keep his in anger intact.

"Ya, the explosion hurt like slag." The black seeker snickered.

Megatron was ten seconds away from cuffing the youth up side the head, he had already grown tired of the youth's attitude.

Thundercracker sensed the anger and quickly interjected, "T-there was also a red guy…"

"What?" Snapped both Megatron and Skywarp.

Thundercracker shrank into himself. "I…I… H-he… Skywarp said that he saw a red guy in the explosion…"

"Really?" Megatron hummed.

"Oh ya, I forgot about that… There was a red mech in the explosion." Skywarp cocked his head to the side.


End file.
